INDO-BANGLA Literary Seminar at Kolkata Press Club

Ankur Art and Cultural Institute of India organized a panel discussion on four seminar books of Avik Gangopadhyay on August 26, 2018, at 11 am-2 pm at the premises of Kolkata Press Club, India where Avik Gangopadhyay honored with recognition for idiosyncratic literary endeavors and recent awards from home and abroad along with a 4-member panel discussion session where two panelists from Bangladesh, says a press release.

Literary Seminar at Kolkata Press Club

The program moderated by Soma Dutta, Faculty, Media Science in George College affiliated to the Maulana Abul Kalam University of Technology. The panelists of the event were Ahmed Tahsin Shams. He is the Lecturer at the Department of English at Notre Dame University Bangladesh. Dr. Avijit Majumder, who is an independent researcher of Art and Music in India. Jaideep Mookherjee is an independent researcher of Comparative Literature and Indology in India. And Nazmun Naher Shishir who is a journalist and literary critic in Bangladesh.

It is to mentioned that Avik Gangopadhyay an author and editor. Of the 30 books published on aesthetics, theories of art and literature, language, and criticism. In 2002 Avik Gangopadhyay is awarded the ‘Editors’ Choice Award’ for his achievement in poetry from the Library of Poetry, USA. His works on ‘Language Death’, ‘Diaspora and Trauma Literature’, ‘The Transcreative Psyche’, ‘Demystifying the Aryan Invasion Myth’ have earned him awards from Edinburgh University (Scotland, UK), Henrich Heine University (Germany), Sorbonne University (France), Indo Canadian Diaspora Confederation (Canada), Centre for Revitalization of Endangered Languages (NY, Canada), Raad O Barendra Bhasha Shongskriti Chorcha Parishad (Bangladesh), Varendra Research Society (Bangladesh), Varada Sidhhi Peetham (India).

Ahmed Tahsin Shams Discussion on Significance

Ahmed Tahsin Shams started a discussion on the significance of Avik’s critical attempts on not-so-discussed interdisciplinary regions. Where Avik approaches through history, sociology, psychology, anthropology for literary texts in a very well-crafted manner. Shams briefly pointed out two of Avik’s books: ‘Bhashar Mrityu, Lupto O Biponno Bhashar Khoj’ on language death revitalization, documentation of endangered languages and scripts, linguistic genocides, and ‘Diaspora and Trauma Literature: Roots Phenomenon Reality’, on how physical and psychological displacement create trauma as the central theory and theme in postmodern literature. Shams also referred to the realistic scenario of diaspora and its impact on human life and writings through citing verses from the literary seminar maestros who exiled from their own lands or migrated during the partition.

Panelists Talked

The next panelist Dr. Avijit Majumder talked on Avik’s book entitled ‘A Metacritical Aesthete in Tagore’ focusing on the concept of transcreation. How Avik’s approach produced a new lens to study Tagore’s translations. Where Tagore did not only translated the words from Bangla to English. Rather totally gave rebirth to the texts to make them ‘original’. Dr. Avijit Majumder’s musically approached his session to make the audience get indulged in Tagore’s essence.

However, Jaideep Mookherjee added another versatile aspect of Avik Gangopadhyay through shedding lights on Avik’s book entitled ‘Saraswati. Protnotatwik, Sanskritikik, Nritatwik, Nandonik Prekshit where Avik demystified the Aryan invasion myth.
And finally, Nazmun Naher Shishir lectured on a completely different arena of Avik’s works. Which his socio-political columns and critical reviews and approaches for untrodden literary seminar classics published in daily newspapers. She shared how Avik’s works not only meant for academics. But also for mass from any discipline with whom Avik Gangopadhyay communicates. With the lucid linguistic stylistics on societal topics that need to be discussed.

The program ended with honorary recognition of Avik Gangopadhyay from Ankur Art and Cultural Institute of India. Also, souvenirs of appreciation provided to the panelists for their presence and talks.

News Coverage: Bangladesh Post, Daily Asian Age, Daily Sun, The Daily Star